Texas Football: Omeire can replace Eagles’ production between the numbers

A big looming question mark for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program for the 2021 season lies within the receiving corps. There’s no questioning the talent and young depth which lies within the Texas receiving corps, but that doesn’t mean that Texas won’t face growing pains this fall as they get accustomed to Sark’s new offensive scheme.

A proven primary receiver does not exist yet in the ranks of the Longhorns receiving corps. There are candidates that could step up into that role such as Joshua Moore, Jordan Whittington, Jake Smith, Troy Omeire, etc., but none that firmly sticks out as of yet.

You could argue that one of the most productive wide receivers for the Longhorns in the past few seasons that will be a critical loss in 2021 is Brennan Eagles. In the past three seasons, Eagles was one of the more often targeted receivers for star quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

He registered 61 catches for 1,026 receiving yards (16.8 yards per catch), and 11 receiving touchdowns. Eagles was also one of the two most productive wideouts for Texas last year, along with Moore.

Where Texas might miss Eagles the most, though, is between the numbers. Eagles and Smith were the two most productive wideouts for the Longhorns between the numbers last season.

It’s hard to overstate how much more effective Eagles was for this passing game between the numbers than on the outside last season. Three of his four highest receiving grades were on balls targeted to him between the numbers, and that’s also where four of his five touchdowns came from.

Looking deeper into how Troy Omeire can replace Brennan Eagles for Texas football in 2021

Eagles registered a total of 14 catches in the center of the field last season, good for 288 receiving yards, and those aforementioned four touchdown catches. Most of Eagles’ yards after the catch last season also came on his targets between the numbers. He had 89 of his yards after the catch last season in this spot of the field.

Ehlinger also had by far the highest passer rating in terms of any spot (left, right, or center) that he looked to on the field for Eagles when he went center. To top it all off, two of the three forced missed tackles that Eagles had last season came on balls that were thrown his way in this spot of the field.

It’s clear how former Texas head coach Tom Herman wanted to use Eagles, and where he was most effective. Texas is likely to have someone with a similar stature and skill set that can fill part of that void that Eagles leaves in the receiving corps this year.

One name to watch that could effectively replace Eagles’ production in the middle of the field is Omeire. The former talented four-star recruit and to-be redshirt freshman looked solid for Texas in camp last offseason. But an ACL tear ended his freshman campaign really before it got started.

This fall, Omeire is recognized as one of the true breakout candidates for the Longhorns on the offensive side of the ball. To make that happen, though, Omeire needs to show out well for Sark in fall camp and needs to prove that he deserves to get these targets in the middle of the field in the passing game over someone like Whittington or Smith.

Omeire stands at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. That is not that far off of the 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds that Eagles was at in his junior campaign with Texas. The speed and leaping ability of Omeire also looks to be comparable, if not superior, to what Eagles brought to the table.

The receiving corps has a lot of potential for the Longhorns in 2021, but it also has a lot of question marks in the midst of summer workouts. A lot of those questions might have to wait to get solved, though, until around the start of the Big 12 slate this fall.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12) under the direction of the former head coach Herman. Sark and the Longhorns now look to get off on the right foot this year when they open up the regular season at home on Sep. 4 against Louisiana.